Go Away
by SSerenato
Summary: Yao only wanted nothing more than for him to go away.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Waaen is Thailand; Hoa is Vietnam; Hui is Hong Kong; Meiling is Taiwan

* * *

The blank silence within the plane allowed Yao thinking time as he stared out the window of his cabin. He softly ground his teeth, the static noise offering more freedom from his surroundings. It smelled of sweat and people, with the occasional melting scent of sweet foods. Yao was starting to see nothing but deep coloured mountains and perfectly polka-dotted yellow sands. He supposed they were close.

"Yao, do you think I should ask Kiku about how the dorms are?" Yong Soo leaned over to Yao. He obviously insisted to sit next to his older sibling, despite the fact that Waaen was the one assigned to the seat. Yao answers Yong Soo with diligent silence, instead enjoying the view, much different from the tropics of the Eastern part of the world.

He hated being in a plane stuffed with foreign bodies, and what he hated most was the reason why he was on in the first place. He wasn't ready for a boarding school, it didn't matter if it was one as prestigious as the International Hetalia boarding school, or some degenerate public school located in the depths of urban Los Angeles. Coming home with the ghosts of overshadowing and regret is something he had lived with for most of his life, but having to deal with something that could leave the biggest imprint on his impressions with others has already induced inward mental breakdowns. He wasn't even there yet.

Although he was here with all six of his siblings, it wasn't their first time to this school. Kiku, the second eldest, was sent here under special request of their mother towards Yao's step-father. After seeing the wonderful results it had on Kiku, his parents had decided to send _all _of their children to the institution. Yao was sure they were celebrating the departure of their children with a deep merlot, complimented with French confectionery within a villa near the countryside of the French alps...

"Hello passengers, this is your pilot." Yao looked up to the front of the cabin, seeing a few stewardesses and a large announcement message on a LED marquee. The pilot spoke to them about their upcoming landing. Sure enough, as Yao looked out the window towards the tip of the plane, there was a micro-town, not any bigger than Yao's pointer finger from his perspective.

After their landing, and some rather upsetting turbulence, he and his siblings where guided out by the stewardesses and towards the airport, Kiku leading the way by experience. Yao was amongst the few of his family to keep his luggage, knowing they had to drop by to get the rest.

"Kiku, you've been here before, so shouldn't you know where the bags are instead of running around like a clueless four year old?" Yong Soo sneered, hanging over Kiku with great height, giving him the chance to sneak a glance at the shorter brother's map.

"I do, I'm sorry. But maybe I'd remember if you would stop hanging over me like that." Kiku said, angrily eying how tall Yong Soo was in comparison to his petite self. Suddenly, an even bigger giant came behind them, placing a hand on their shoulders and pushing them together.

"Now older brothers, behave. You wouldn't want our mother to get angry would you?" Waeen said happily, obviously taking a jab at Yao's constant mother hen attitude.

"I'd prefer if all of you would shut up and just find where the bags are." Yao hissed to his younger siblings. His sister comes up from behind Yao, clutching his shoulder with manicured hands.

"Yao, please don't worry about the gege." Meiling says with a slight accent. Yao calms slightly at Meiling's soft voice. However, he knew it was just her bias towards Kiku that was speaking, knowing if he said anything else he'd taste the bitter wrath of a woman. Looking behind him, he spied Hoa, his Vietnamese sister who is examining her surroundings. Hui sticks to himself, carrying a navy blue sports bag, just one out of the many he was allowed to take in proportion to the rest of the family.

They reach the bag stations, Yao carefully checking and examining each bag, handing them to his siblings individually. After he knows that's the last of the bags, he checks his old counterfeit watch, which reads a time he isn't happy with. He immediately takes a sharp glance towards Kiku and Yong Soo.

"If you two weren't bickering out of your asses, we wouldn't have been late for our bus. Hurry up before I slap all of you." Yao bitterly spits venom towards his siblings, something they're all used too. They hurry out of the airport, all of them running towards the exit as Yao stays behind, corralling them like sheep into a barn.

Just as they spot the bus driver reaching to close the doors, Yong Soo yells out as they stumble one by one against the bus, courtesy to a few of Yao's most clumsy siblings. The bus driver scorns at Yao's family, gripping her wheel to keep her comments to herself, most likely.

"Hurry up and get in then." She snaps at them. They all pile in one by one, Yao being the last. He sees the bare seats, with literally only four students spaced out within the bus. He and his siblings take a seat in the back, with him pressed against the window as four of the biggest boys take the large seat. The bus starts with a resounding roar, feeling himself pulled back by the force of the bus moving forward. He rests against the window, ignoring the snickers and light rough-housing between Yong Soo and Waaen. He hears Yong Soo whisper something, but it starts to become to far for him to hear.

_The warmth that spread throughout his neck and upper body helped him drift. The soft lullaby, the lulling voice. It's husky, yet eerily haunting tone seemed to drift like air into his ears. A son never wanted to leave the warmth of a mother's lap, the security of soft breasts matured by pregnancy. Just as it had came, it went, floating against a current that went to fast for him to catch._

"Wake up." Yong Soo impatiently said, squeezing Yao's shoulder tightly, bringing a piercing pain that was enough to make him alert. He hated being woken up by Yong Soo, as it always entailed some form of pain.

"We're here bro, it's just outside. I had _no_ idea about how awesome it looked." Yong Soo said with obvious kiddy excitement. Yao sighed through his nose as he gathered up his luggage, taking Hui's sports bag that he had forgotten. Just as he looked up from walking down the metal steps of the bus, there was the school, standing high and large within the cool desert of the Rocky Mountains. The building was adobe beige, the colour severely overused. The building had a classical, old west design, however still showing slivers of typical desert construction common to the region. The school looked like a prison disguised as a hotel, in Yao's eyes.

"Alright kids, line up and I'll direct you to your group." A teacher impatiently called out, gathering the family along with the four other students together in a line, Yao being last with Hui in front of him. As the line progressed, Yao gripped Hui's wrist and turned him to straighten Hui's mussed collar.

"I know you can handle yourself, but please make sure your sister doesn't get lost, or stray?" Yao muttered to Hui, looking up at him with a slightly playful smile. Hui grunted as he flicked his eyes towards Meiling, who dazed in the middle of her - and eventually Hui's - group. He repressed the need to facepalm when her dazing ended with a clumsy drop of luggage, embarrassingly trying to avert gazes towards her with a blush.

"Thank you." Yao said gratefully, handing Hui his sports bag before turning him around to greet the teacher. She guided him over to his sister, who he trotted to in silence. Yao walked up to meet his maker.

"What grade are you in?" She asked Yao, placing a hand on his shoulder as she looked towards the highschool groups.

"E-eleventh..." He stammered nervously as she nodded in response. She pointed to one of the smallest groups on the high school side.

"That's where you'll be. Follow the teachers instructions and you'll be fine." Yao nods and speed walks towards the group, finding himself near the end once again. A teacher - separate from the ones about the lead them - steps up in front of all the groups, starting to speak with a booming voice.

"Okay students, these teachers are going to lead you into your dorms. As you probably know there are two dorms, one for the high school students and one for the middle school students. The middle school students are located on the other side of the school, and high school students are not allowed to enter the middle school building without a permit, and vice versa. The high school dorms are separated in two sections, one for the lower grades," She points to the groups left of Yao, "And one for the higher grades," She points towards him.

"Any questions?" An expected silence. She steps down, and his group's teacher starts gathering students. He starts walking with the rest of his students, holding his bags close to his frame as he starts finding himself caught in the very middle of the group, uncomfortably finding refuge into his shell. Someone bumps into him, and he looks up slightly. He sees it's a very tall, blond haired young man, with striking blue eyes, looking down at the dull Yao.

"Oh, sorry." He apologizes, his voice jubilant. Yao clears his throat softly as he sputters out the words.

"'S'alright..." He murmured, making extra space between him and the blond man.

"Hey, are you new here?," A moment of silence before he continues, "I've gone here for my entire high school life, so I can tell a new face from an old one." He explains, smiling at Yao with a sense of close friendliness. Yao stays silent. He was awfully chatty, a little too chatty for just a kid being led to a dorm. He grumbles to himself like this until it starts setting the other off.

"Uhm... Well, I'll just see you around I guess." He branches away from Yao, going to a group of more blonds, who were actually making quite the ruckus considering they were only two people. Then again, Yao wasn't very used to hanging around people his age. He only had his siblings as friends.

They reach the dorm, unsurprisingly less dramatic than the front of the school. it was all painted one shade, windows lining along the concrete building indicating each room. He wasn't satisfied with how close together they were, and especially not with the Victorian era choice of curtain. He is distracted by his observations by a teacher, lining them up to get their key, maps and room number. It feels as though he's waiting forever, his feet starting to feel a bit sore after a while. He comes to the end of the line after a long wait, taking a deep breath.

"This is your dorm room, room 310. Here's your key, and your map," She pushes the objects into Yao's hands,"And you're all set. If you ever loose your key then just come over to the dorm office and we'll supply you with a new one. Make sure _not_ to loose it, 'kay hun?" She adds the last sentence bitterly, giving Yao a great first impression about her.

"Yes ma'am," He politely takes the items despite that, going off towards the dorm entrance as he looks over his map. He isn't surprised when he sees that he has to climb quite the amount of stairs to his dorm room, after checking the status of the elevator - out of order. He sighs sourly, readying his legs for the climb.

After a bit of searching, he found his room, fiddling with the lock and opening it. Just as the curtains, the room was disappointing. It was decorated royally with deep red furnishings, making the room darker than he liked it to be. The beige clashed horribly with the rest, but at least it was better than more red. He walked in, seeing a desk beside his bed and a note on it. He opened it, a cheesy welcome note only deserving of the trash. He threw his luggage on the bed, starting to unpack before getting startled by the sound of a lock being roughly unlocked.

"Oh, hello comrade. Did I scare?" The perpetrator had a thick accent. Yao hoped to god this wasn't his new room mate.

"No, that's... alright." He mutters, looking up at the man, taking the chance to examine him. He was just as beige as the desert, his clothes greyish yellows and somber, while his hair matched perfectly. He had violet eyes, which was the only source of colour that stood out from his palette, but even that had a hint of almost disgusting sadness.

"Where are you from? My name is Ivan." Ivan smiled as he spoke, clasping his hands together and holding them to his stomach. Yao cleared his throat as he turned back to his luggage, eying the obvious Russian with distrust. Yao looked to the open suitcase as Ivan walked to what he assumed was his bed, throwing his own luggage on it too and sitting. The bed sunk to meet the proportions of the giant man. It was possibly this hugeness that made Yao distrust him as much as he did.

"You have good English, I am not very good at it yet. I not find it very nice language, so I am not happy to learn." Ivan explained.

"That's unfortunate." Yao hides his annoyance with the others constant chattering. What made him even more miffed was the fact that he had to spend the majority of the school year with this boy.

"Maybe you can study me English sometime?" The beige man turned to Yao.

"Uh... Yeah." The gaze between them didn't signify any budding relationship.

* * *

Yao unexpectedly woke up, panicking as he gripped the bed sheets and looked around his room. His dorm room, not the bright open room he had at home, what was left of it. He rubbed his eyes, frowning against the heel of his hand as he looked up at the clock. Late, as usual. He got up hurriedly, putting his dorm key in his pocket and swiping the map to see where the assembly hall was. He leaves the dorm room, locking it on his way out and running throughout the building.

After exiting and sprinting from the dorm all the way to the main building, he reached the assembly hall. He didn't have time to breath yet, as an unknown teacher grabs him by the arm.

"You're late." She whispers, making him jump. He swallowed and nodded, looking to her shyly.

"Y-yes, sorry." He recoils from the teacher, who points to an empty chair.

"Go take a seat over there." He nods in response and bends himself down as he runs through rows of seats and students. He took the seat, positioned next to a peculiar looking boy who's hair as white as his skin, and eyes fiery red. Yao tries not to stare, gladly taking the middle aged woman onto the stage as distraction. Her hair was curled, lifted up into a sophisticated bun, her features European and her white dress flowing against her figure.

"Hello students, as you know, I'm your Principal, Ms. Olympias." Yao noted the extravagant name. She cleared her throat.

"I've been a part of this school ever since it's stood on scaffolding... Every year I greet new faces, knowing that this school is bring a world together for knowledge..." Yao rolls his eyes at how cheesy she sounded, and he figured she probably loved hearing the sound of her own voice. The man next to him frowned, whispering before saying rather loudly,

"This is the same speech as last year." Yao blushes as a few students look his way, becoming a recluse in his chair to make himself as small as possible. He tries to ignore him, and listen to the woman as the speech goes on.

"... I'd like for our students to behave, and to always remember to go to class on time. We don't tolerate a single slip in punctuality here at Hetalia, so I'm hoping you'll all stay on your toes. Without further ado, messages and welcomes from your teachers this year." She steps from the podium, allowing another teacher on stage, one that was particularly stumpy in the hips. The orientation goes on, each teacher uglier than the last.

_"Yao, mama is pregnant. Yao will be good for his little brother right?" The words drive sharp knives into Yao's stomach._

_"Why should I have too." He thinks, his grown body hurting as his child heart screeched._

_"Yao, please don't be sad about daddy leaving. Mama got you a new daddy. Isn't he a lot nicer?" These were cold._

_"Please just shut up." He cries out, clutching his heart painfully._

_"Yao, mama has to go with daddy now. Take care of Kiku, okay?"_

"Hey dude, the orientations are over." Yao feels a warm hand on his shoulder, patting it softly. He blinks, coming out of his daydream. He gets up, clearing his throat as he straightens his shirt.

"Sorry..." He says quietly to the albino man, who shrugs as he turns to his friends. Yao gets ready to leave, exiting the assembly hall as students clog the exit, his small frame managing to get passed all of them. Even in the midst of all that, he is stopped by Ivan. He grabs Yao by the arm, bringing him closer.

"What classes you have?" Ivan smiles towards Yao. Seeing his smile so close made it more menacing than from afar, allowing him to get a good look at the others crooked yellow teeth. Yao thinks hurriedly, with Ivan so close to the other.

"Uhm, w-well, I think I have Pre-calculus, and AP English... I forget a few classes, maybe Chemistry?" Yao swallowed, worrying over the circulation in his arm. Ivan still hasn't let go.

"I take chemistry too, we see each other in class sometime?" Ivan looms over the smaller boy, taking his large hand over his shoulder, completely engulfing it. Either the beige man had large hands, or Yao was really that small in comparison.

"Y-yeah, sure..." Yao slips out of his grip sneakily and gently, trying to run away from Ivan's creepy stature.

"See you in room okay?" Ivan says with a strangely mocking tone, as if he was trying to scare Yao on purpose. What made this even worse was that characteristic smile of his. Yao didn't respond, simply leaving and walking aimlessly around the main building. He knew for a fact he didn't want to go back to his dorm room, but he had no where else to go. That is, until he remembered what Kiku had told him. Whenever he had felt lonely, he'd seek refuge at the roof. The view there was spectacular from Kiku's words, so Yao decided why not.

After spending ages looking at his map for a way to the roof, Yao climbed more stairs until he got to heavy concrete doors, managing to pry one open with the entirety of his frame. Immediately feeling the desert winds blow into his hair, he was glad it was tied up in a ponytail. Walking towards the edge of the roof, sitting on the concrete ground and sighing softly. Despite the school being located in Pahrump, it was actually quite a long ways away from the town, seeing it far on the leftward horizon.

So there he was, watching as students down below chased one another and deciding how funny it would be to spit on a few ugly middle school girls who were more likely than not talking about some stupid fandom on the internet, or boys. For a moment his whole world goes blank as he stares out against the horizon, then he remembers he has to spend a whole year here at this school, competing with siblings for the top spot with his parents approval, having to deal with horribly ugly and bitter teachers and a curriculum on a scale much higher than what he had usually been expected to do. What better to wrap up the deal than a creepy room mate that probably plotted how deep your grave was going to be?

Yao contemplated how much it would hurt to fall of the edge right now.


	2. Chapter 2

Mrs. Grinder, Yao's AP English teacher, was finishing up a lecture near the end of her class. Yao stared out the window, watching as the trees swayed and the rocks under them glimmered under the sun. It had already been a month, the air around them all starting to cool as it transitioned into fall. Yao's depression from the whole ordeal had reached a plateau. It never seemed to simmer down, it never seemed to become overwhelming. It was just long and arduous. He had never seen much of his siblings, but whenever he did, they always seemed to make a scene (especially if one of them happened to bring over a couple of friends). He had finally figured out that his room mate had sociopathic tendencies, if not full out a sociopath. Sometimes he would stall going 'home' to his dorm. It didn't stop those strangely murky, yet naked eyes from greeting him every time he creaked open the door.

"Alright, I would like to announce the new tutor partnership program. As you can guess, you guys can come up and sign up to either be tutored or be a tutor once a week after school. If you guys need the forms, just go ahead and come up here for a packet containing information about the partnership as well as the form. I wanna see at least one of you come up here, now." Mrs. Grinder paused to look over mostly dead eyes. Yao mostly ignored it, but he figured why not? He spends most of his days after school on the roof top of the dorm building ever since the main building had locked up the roof, so why not just add this to his extremely open agenda?

He decided to get up, quickly stuffing his books in his messenger bag. He grabs a pack after waiting in line, running out of the room to his dorm. Today was a Tuesday, and Ivan always had extra curricular English class. So he could have a little quiet time while filling out his form, and maybe listen to his hand-me-down iPod.

* * *

After a week of waiting, it had been announced that he had been accepted into the tutor partnership. He had mixed feelings over it, but either way, it wasn't like he was totally new to tutoring. In fact, he spent most of his life going over tens of different subjects with his multitude of siblings. He walks over to the huge school library, a second sanctuary to the roof of the dorms. He finds different groups of students, and goes to greet one of his favorite teachers, Ms. Graham, the librarian.

"Ah, hello Yao. You signed up for the tutor partnership?" The old, sullen skinny woman asked, her thin, long grey hair free-flowing over her shoulders down to her hips. Her brightly colored eyes lifted themselves from a series of charts, obviously the sign in forms. Unlike with his other teachers, Yao was able to greet Ms. Graham with a smile. He clutched at his messenger bag to take a look over the table without having it bang against the edge, examining the papers. Just as he expected, he was supposed to sign in and out here.

"I had the faintest feeling one of our school's smartest students would sign up for this little program." Yao supposed that was what it was about Ms. Graham that made her so close to him, the ability to connect with even the most down-trodden atmosphere. He laughed softly, shaking his head in modesty.

"I didn't really have much to do after school, so I just decided to use this to take up some time..." He muttered in his inherently soft-spoken words, the words smooth and flowing off his tongue like clouds. Yao wasn't a quiet person, but calm. Ms. Graham smiled, but immediately perked up from this enveloping air of delicateness from Yao.

"So, who's your partner?" She asked curiously, bending over to rest on the desk as Yao tried to remember the name. Alex...? Albert...? No, it was Alfred, of course. He remembered how familiar the name was when he first saw it on his acceptance papers, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He was never very good at names, which could easily be displayed when he was amongst his own numerous siblings.

"Alfred...? I forget what his last name was." He laughed feebly, scratching at his cheek. Ms. Graham frowned, surprising Yao.

"You mean Alfred Jones? That guy is a real trouble student. He's definitely made his name around the teacher's lounge. He signed up for tutoring? Huh..." She quirked up her eyebrows in surprise, her glasses slightly jumping with her, "Well, good luck Yao. I'm sure you'll do a great job tutoring him. Anyway, would you like to sign in here please?" She asked, pointing at one of the boxes.

Yao nodded and quickly bent over to take a pencil and write his signature, checking his electronic watch. He wrote down the time, 3:26 PM, and placed the pencil back next to the paper before shaking Ms. Graham's hand. He took his bag to go take a seat in one of the plastic chairs in front of the black and grey speckled table, wobbling as he sat down. Then all he had to do is wait. He stared aimlessly at the variety of students that were either waiting for their pupil, or already tutoring. He spotted one kid who was being quite eager about his tutoring session at the moment. A cute middle school kid, with blond, unraveled hair under a sailor hat. The last he checked, hats weren't within the dress code, especially for a middle school kid. He had heard a rumor that some children could be treated or get away with certain things because of money or status here at this school. Here he was, however, entertaining a rather silly rumor over a kid wearing a sailor hat. Besides his over eagerness, the only other distinguishing feature about him was his eyebrows, believe it or not. Reminded him of this one rather established student in his history class, who always had something to say about certain pieces of interpreted history...

Before he knew it, he started drifting away from the conscious world, waiting patiently. Everything seemed to pause as his eyes closed to block it out, even in it's stillness. The only thing that seemed to resonate inside of his head was children's laughter. In fact, the beautiful bell-like ringing of the laughter from a toddler, in the familiar smell of summer sweat and Korean barbecue. That's right, he remembered Yong Soo just when he was a child, playing in the backyard of his new stepfather's villa. What was it that reminded him? Was it the middle school child, his soft smiles and giggles triggering it? Or maybe it had become habit to remember tidbits of his childhood in this period of time between childhood and adulthood.

He opened his eyes suddenly, his instincts telling him that something wasn't right here. He checked his watch, which read 3:53 PM. He's been waiting here for at least thirty minutes, and still no pupil. Usually tutors should finish their job within an hour, maybe two at most. He didn't get what the big deal is. Then he remembered the words. _You mean Alfred Jones? That guy is a real trouble student. _That must've been it. Maybe the guy is so much of a trouble maker he'd thought it'd be smart to skip. It'd be embarrassing to get up now, but then again, he was far to used to staring faces to really care too much. He gathered up his bag and got up to go sign himself out. Ms. Graham wasn't there at the table at the moment, but he decided to help himself and find his name again to jot down his sign out time. He wasn't very proactive enough to go up to someone and inquire about what would happen if a student skipped a session, so he figured maybe they'd find out on their own. Besides, at least he killed time like he wanted.

* * *

_ Fields of concrete and asphalt. The hospital had faulty air conditioning, sweat dropping down between his eyes and splitting down his nose. He stared out the window, watching the busy street that branched off to occupy himself in this time, this time which seemed to be surreal and sped to an alarming rate. Just in the other room, there was calm speaking, but other than that silent. A woman giving birth in the maternity ward, yet her room mostly silent, even calm. Sitting besides Yao was a man, in his mid-fourties, sitting there waiting. The man in white came rushing out, announcing something, talking happily yet loudly. The man took Yao's hand, guiding him into the room where his mother lay. She carried two bundles this time, and Yao felt a welling in his chest. He ran over, letting go of the sweaty, grimy hand, looking down at the two blanket bundles. There were the soft, red faces he had been so used too. His heart welled in his chest, smiling softly and sweetly to them, reaching out a hand to touch them. Something stopped him however, so he looked up._

_ There, were the sneering faces of everyone in the room. Everyone laughed at him, criticized him, ostracized him. He couldn't understand why they were laughing at him, and why the room just seemed to dissipate, the walls falling in on him. Even the only light in the room, coming from the soft pastel swaddles, seemed to be fading. Yao felt immeasurable hate towards those swaddles now. Those were the harbingers of disaster, an angel of death. Yet, with those innocent faces, that seemed to cry now, just above them was the twisted face of his own mother that seemed to be distorted painfully, looking into his eyes with such scorn.  
_

Yao swallowed as his eyes opened slowly. His heart was pounding against his chest, slowly but strongly. He gripped the blanket under him, looking around to catch his bearings. The same red lavish furniture, papering... And the same man, which stood out against the royal color with his sullen beige, staring right at him from his own bed. Another week of his life, wasted.

"You were having a nightmare." He said with a smile, that eerie smile that never went away. Yao was always used to nightmares, because reality never offered any relief when he woke up. There was never a point to be fazed. He lifted himself up, grabbing for a hair tie, tying up his hair calmly and ignoring Ivan for a moment before dragging a hand down his face groggily.

"Yes Ivan, thank you." He cracked out his voice, reaching to take off a blanket that wasn't there (as it was too hot to even sleep in one). He got up to change from his wife-beater and boxer shorts to his school uniform, taking refuge in the bathroom away from straying eyes. The bathrooms of the dorms were actually very shabby in comparison to the main rooms (which were unnecessarily lavished), but as long as it had working plumbing for Yao, he was fine with whatever they had. He checked his watch, loosening it a bit as he always did in the mornings because of how uncomfortable his wrist felt each time he woke up with it on. It was two hours before 8:30, enough time to have a satisfying breakfast and spend a little time with his siblings. Without saying goodbye to his room-mate, he grabbed his bag and ran out of his room with great speed, hoping to catch breakfast.

The cafeteria was usually more packed during the mornings than any lunch period, quite different from any normal public school. It was almost always guaranteed that Yao would see Yong Soo and Kiku, but definitely not Hui, Meiling, or the twins. Since most of them were middle-school children, they all attended the middle school cafeteria. So it just left Yao with the second most quiet sibling, and the loudest one. However, that particular aspect about them didn't matter much here, as the loud roar of voices reverberating in the sound enhanced cafeteria made it difficult to discern whether someone was being loud or quiet.

Yao waited in line as he fondled his meal card in his hand. Parents were usually in charge of filling these cards for each student to last them a month or so, and an imbalanced card meant no food. Yao never had to worry about this.

"Jook-," He corrected himself, closing his eyes to remember the words as the lunch lady waited patiently for what he had wanted, "Rice porridge, thank you."

She slopped the icky looking substance into a bowl, but to Yao, born more to the South of China, this was a normal dish. The school usually took foreign cuisine quite seriously, as students tended to get homesick easier without food to remind them of home. Rice porridge, or _congee, _for easier reference, was among these dishes. Yao grabbed his rather drab bowl from over the counter, ignoring the moans of disgust from next to him. He was used to it, at this point.

He took a rather careful walk over to his table after taking two slices of cantaloupe and a glass of water to compliment his otherwise poor meal, to greet both of his siblings, quietly enjoying their bland food.

"Sit right here." Yong Soo moved over for Yao, patting the plank of plastic next to him. Yao slid in, lowering his tray while sighing. Yong Soo, with a mouth full of kimchi and rice, turned to Yao, his eyes thinking of his next words as he waited for the mouth to be free.

"So," He swallowed, "You entered the tutoring program huh?"

Yao didn't ask how he knew this, Yong Soo was one of the most sociable (obviously) and most connected person amongst his family of siblings. He just took a slow, calm bite of his own food.

"Yeah, why do you ask...?" He said rather sheepishly, staring out blankly into the off white walls of the otherwise sterile, hospital like cafeteria.

"And you have another session today right?" Yong Soo pried. Kiku, amongst all this, just silently ate away at his food. Yao wouldn't like to admit it, but as the second oldest, Kiku was probably more like him than he imagined.

"Yes, will you get on with the point?" Yao growled, picking angrily into his slush at this point.

"I was just wondering, since a guy on there told me your student skipped." Yong Soo smirked at Yao, playfully punching him on the shoulder to throw around Yao a little. He shrugged. He didn't care whether the kid came or not as long as it didn't get him in trouble.

"I don't care much really, I just wished I hadn't waited there for half an hour for some English flunky. I mean, who flunks English? And apparently it's this Alfred James guy or whatever..." Yao picked up the conversation with his own ramblings. Yong Soo seemed to take a moment to put on an invisible thinking cap, trying to remember something by the looks of it.

"You mean Alfred Jones?" Yong Soo, his face uneasy. _That's the one, _Yao thought, and he nodded.

"Yeah, that one."

"Oh, gosh, uhm... I doubt he'll be coming over for this session too, then." Obviously, Yong Soo seemed to know him, or at least have a general knowledge of him.

"Why do you say that...?" Yao knew he would more likely than not regret this question.

"Well, think of it this way. He's more obnoxious than me, and I invented the word." Yao raised his eyebrows softly, thinking over that. Well, that's great. Maybe it was for the better than he skipped. It was hard enough to deal with Yong Soo, but someone who was brattier than he was? Out of the question. Yong Soo seemed to know exactly what Yao was thinking, despite being air-headed with everyone else.

"Don't worry bro, you seem to take care of me just fine right? Besides, maybe you'll get a friend... for once." This called for a daily slap on the shoulder.

* * *

Again he was waiting at the same circular table in the library, deciding to take out homework this time to work on it while he waited. He solved mathematical equations over and over again, pre-calculus posing a mostly average challenge to this eleventh grade student. After what he thought was about twenty minutes of him being there, he checked his watch. He arrived around 3:30, but now it was almost 4 o'clock. Once again, he had waited here for thirty minutes. However, he wasn't so sore about it this time because of the wise decision to do something productive while he waited. Sighing, he started packing up his things, arranging his homework in a folder and stuffing it in his notebook. Just as he was about to put his books in his bag, someone walked over and cleared his throat softly.

He looked up, and he could recognize the face vaguely. Pale, red toned skin along with bright blue eyes that were framed widely with glinted glasses. His hair was a dirty blond, and rather messily kept, but kept all the same. This must've been Alfred Jones.

"Hey, uhm... Are you my tutor...?" He asked quietly so not to disturb the others. _Well, at least he seemed considerate. Maybe he's not as bad as everyone made him out to be, _Yao seemed to forget that everyone has a reputation for a reason.

"Uh, are you Alfred...?" He sat down again, trying to put his bag to the side, as not the embarrass himself.

"Oh, yeah." He sat down, rather awkwardly in fact. If this guy was anything like Yong Soo, he'd expect more of a confident approach. From the corner of Yao's eye, however, he could see something glint within those intense blue eyes.

"Hey, dude, this is gonna sound kinda dumb, but... Can we just skip the tutoring shit and sit here for a while?" There goes his first impression. Yao sat there, his face blank but his mind dumb-founded, partly at the fact that they were barely passed formalities, and yet he was able to say this so bluntly.

"I... You mean... Excuse me?" He couldn't understand. Sit here, for a full hour or so, but not do a single bit of tutoring is what he meant, right?

"Look, I'm sorry, I know I'm probably wasting a lot of your time, but do me the biggest favor in the world? Please?" Just when things couldn't seem to get any worse, the pout of the lip and the watering of the eyes pulled at Yao's non-existent heart strings. Too bad he wasn't fazed.

"Why am I supposed to be doing this right now?" He said impatiently, his frown growing larger with each passing moment. Alfred seemed to be thinking over a reason, possibly an excuse. Maybe it was his wording he was thinking about, or maybe a lie to get out of more strenuous teaching.

"I'm just going to be blunt here then. You know that I have shitty grades, just like any other kid here. But... I'm not _dumb, _see," He paused, trying to find his wording, "I just... Don't do the work. If you were to shoot me any academic question right now I can probably answer it in a flash. I just don't do the work."

Alright, if he knew this, then what was the point to signing up for a tutoring program? Just for shits and giggles, or maybe for motivation? It couldn't have been for motivation, or else he wouldn't be saying most of this malarkey.

"... That isn't a very convincing excuse." Yao muttered, his head starting to develop a headache. This guy was more trouble than it was worth.

"There's more to it, okay? The only thing my dad sees is my report card, nothing else. He doesn't see that I'm legitimately smart," _I wonder why, _Yao thought, "just that my teachers don't think so. So he decided to just sign me up in here, without any of my input. And I thought it'd be smart to skip, but obviously not... So here I am, stuck here, until my grades improve."

So the situation presented itself to him, and yet Yao was still not completely convinced. An idea struck him, and he decided to take out his recent English homework. He smacked the packet on his desk, moving it over to Alfred.

"If you're so smart, do that for me." Yao hissed quietly in the midst of a library, hoping to not attract attention from the neighboring students. He wouldn't want to be caught for cheating.

"Fine, alright then." Alfred bent over it to start working, and the way he immediately went to answer with no effort was impressive, but not until Yao checked his answers thoroughly, most out of habit. He craned his neck up high, trying to see exactly what he was writing. Alfred looked up unexpectedly, causing Yao to pull back into his chair. He pushed the paper towards him.

"Here. I think I did pretty well myself." He beamed, exuding self-confidence. _Well, I'll just have to see that for myself, _Yao thought as he looked over the first answer. Correct. The second answer, correct as well. Correct, correct, correct. It was now apparent to Yao that this kid wasn't joking, he really was as smart as he said. He couldn't understand why he couldn't just do his homework and be done with it, with how quickly he managed to do this packet. Yao looked up at Alfred with ill-mannered defeat, putting the packet back in his folder and bag.

"So?"

"So you might have a legitimate story. That doesn't mean I want to sit here for thirty minutes to an hour just so you can be on good terms with Daddy." Yao bitterly spoke, crossing his arms. Alfred smirked at the other boy's keen choice of words.

"Well, like I said, sorry. You don't even have to talk to me. You can even just do your homework if you're such a tight wad."

Yao didn't understand why such a hot shot guy like the man sitting before him was willing to waste such a large amount of time. Didn't he have friends to hang out with? A teenage life to live? It wasn't really his business to pry, so he just decided to do just as the young man suggested. He decided to take out his work, chemistry specifically. Alfred took out his phone just at the same time, hiding it under the table as he browsed through something. Phones aren't usually allowed in the library, but it wasn't Yao's place to be snapping at another person for breaking the rules. Looking at his chemistry problems, he was already stumped. Chemistry, or science really, was always a difficult subject for him, something that Kiku was more suited for. He furrowed his brow over this particular equation, sticking the end of his pencil into his mouth in concentration. Alfred seemed to notice, shifting his eyes up to the young man opposite of him to watch his micro-behaviors of struggle.

"You need a little help there?" No, the last person he needed help from was this trouble maker who was most likely from a spoiled rich family.

"No, thank you." He muttered politely, but Alfred knew that Yao already hated his guts. Goody two-shoes' like him always did.

"Look, move over." He demanded sternly, yet surprisingly eagerly, as he picked up his chair to sit next to Yao. Yao retorted quickly with a flowing stream of whines and complaints, set on the fact that he could definitely do it independently.

"Dude, just, come on. You need help, let me help you." When he seemed to just overtake the whole area, how could Yao say no? He just sat on the sidelines with distaste.

"Alright, so, you have trouble on this first formula right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Well, the hydrogen reacts with this..."

"I'm sorry, I don't seem to follow." Alfred went over it again with Yao. At this point, it was obvious that this kid was book smart. He wasn't sure if it was enough to make up for his lack of common sense, but some people were like that, he supposed.

"So that's how you do that. Hey, do you have any other homework in there I can help you with?" Somehow this tutoring session seemed to have turned tables on Yao. Yao shook his head, practically snatching away his paperwork and stuffing it in his bag.

"No, thank you."

"Do you know how to play paper football?" Yao stopped in his bag rummaging, trying to figure out why in the hell this guy next to him, who he hardly knows, insinuated he would play paper football with him.

"No." He lied, finally clasping his bag together and turning to this bright, dirty blond. His eyes showed mischievousness, something Yao was sure wasn't foreign in these deep sea eyes. Yao was hoping Alfred would drop it just at that.

"Well, why don't I teach you? Come here..." Yao was obviously holding his expectations too high for this guy. Alfred bent himself close to Yao, before just outright bending himself over to his bag to take a notebook. Yao couldn't believe the outright rudeness of this young man, with the audacity to make such blatant and obvious contact with someone he hardly knew. Tearing out a page, Alfred took active folds on the piece of paper. Finally making a product looking a little pitifully like a football, Yao rolled his eyes as the young man childishly tried to position himself.

"Oh come on, have a little fun for once. Just lift up your fingers, please?" Alfred already assumed that Yao knew how to play, and he was right, he did know how to play. Of course, it was either he was assuming that he already knew how to play, or it was just his persistence getting the better of him.

"Fine." Yao grumbled. Alfred made it obvious that he wasn't going to shut up until he played, and as long as it only lasted about two seconds of some dumb, uneventful finger-flicking action, it wouldn't hurt Yao. He sighed through his nose and lifted his fingers to form a three sided square.

Alfred flicked, got it through the goal, and made himself a nice congratulations party to the 'rookie MVP player of the century' while Yao tapped his fingers on the table impatiently.

"Is everything okay here?" He jumped when he heard the voice of the librarian. He didn't even notice Alfred was really making that much noise, but he must've been if it was enough to alert the half-deaf Ms. Graham. Yao quickly nodded to reassure his teacher, blushing profusely in embarrassment.

"Y-yes, everything is fine here, we were just getting on to our class book this year." Yao quickly thought up a good excuse, smiling sheepishly. Ms. Graham smiled and mouthed a quick 'oh'.

"What book are you guys reading this year?" She asked curiously, having that somehow innocent yet ignorant inquisitiveness of a teacher.

"The Great Gatsby, miss G." Alfred answered, to Yao's surprise. Ms. Graham seemed obviously flustered with how seemingly respectful Alfred was being at the moment. Yao wasn't sure what flashed across her eyes, but maybe the reason why she wanted to come over here was to pin something on Alfred.

"Oh, well, that's a really great book. I hope you guys enjoy it." She walked away, her long hair swaying a path behind her. Yao sighed and ran his hand down his face in exasperation. He checked his watch, and saw that it was already starting to be 4:50. He looked up at Alfred, as though to signal that he was done with messing around.

"So what time is it?"

"4:50, thank you." Yao answered, sighing as he started to gather up his bag. Alfred smiled up at him and nudged him in the side.

"I had fun you know."

"Yeah, right." Yao threw a begrudging look.

"No, really, I had fun."

"And how is that, liar?"

"Because you're not a liar."

* * *

It was about three more weeks of just spending time with Alfred in their 'study sessions', which most of the time ended up with Alfred helping Yao with any complicated Chemistry problem (the subject was his bane, he hated to admit). Yao seemed to have come to understand that Alfred was just a budding trouble-maker still stuck in adolescent stage, and today was going to be the day where he was going to try to convince him to stick to the studies and not the dorm parties (something he was surprised the young man got away with).

He waited in the library patiently for the young man. Honestly, he really couldn't believe he was doing this. He knew it was just for his own benefit so he could get a new partner that actually needed to be tutored, but he can't shake this horrible feeling. It welled up in his chest and made him nervous and nauseous.

_"Maybe you'll get a friend... for once." _It rang in his head. Yao didn't think his relationship with Alfred was enough to define as friendship. The two really don't know each other on a personal basis, just on a typical teenage hey-let's-mess-around-because-we're-bored-and-stup id basis. Mainly because they only spent two hours a week together anyway.

Then Yao realized it. Even though they weren't friends, Yao was getting attached. Something very usual and normal for others, but something rare and abnormal for Yao. It was obvious that Yao wasn't the type to get attached to someone, even his siblings can see his heart of ice. None of this played through Yao's head, just the fact that yes, he did to an extent like Alfred. He snorted at himself. That had to explain something about this school, that the only friend he managed to make was a crazy party maniac who didn't seriously consider his future. However, they weren't friends. Yao needed to constantly remind himself of that.

He checked his watch. Thirty minutes had already passed from when he got here and still no sign of Alfred. Besides the first session he skipped, Alfred made a habit of coming by at least ten minutes or so. _He's skipping again, _Yao thought. Well, so much for everything. Yao gathered his bags, and set off. Then he remembered, from one of their sessions.

_"Hey, I actually have a twin brother." Alfred said amused, looking over at Yao as he kicked his feet up on the table._

_"Is that so?" Two of Alfred Jones? Yao wasn't sure what was wrong with the world anymore._

_"Yeah, his name is Matthew. He's kind of a meek little guy. I think he actually takes a class with you. US Government, right?" Yao thought. Someone who looked like Alfred... No one came to mind._

_"No, never heard of him." Alfred wasn't surprised._

_"Yeah well, he's kind of easy to ignore. Sometimes even I forget he exists."  
_

Yao knew he was absolutely crazy now to think of going to Alfred's twin brother for help.

Getting up early for the next day and doing his daily run-like-the-wind routine from his dorm room, he went over his usual periods, collected a few essays and projects he was expected to do, then went over to US Government. He could feel his breakfast swell up in his stomach to his throat, opening the door to find already a few students in there. It would've really helped a lot to know if his twin brother was identical or fraternal, but he'll just have to gather that the two of them have to look alike to some extent, even if they weren't identical. He looked over the bunch given to him initially as he sat down in his seat. He tried to find a patch of blond, and hopefully fiery, bright colored eyes just like his brother's. Looking over each of them several times, he didn't get anything that resembled Alfred.

The teacher came in, and he composed himself for class. He'll have to save this for when class ended, because who knows what kind of slack he would get back home for just dropping a small percentage lower...

The class went on, Yao occasionally glancing at the heads of a few students here and there despite telling himself to focus. As the class ended, and the teacher was wrapping up what they had learned that day, he decided to take this time and look over them all. He weeded out all the brunettes, and tried to find the blonds. It seemed, as if it popped up like a sprout over the numerous heads, a perfect match to Alfred.

_Weird, I never even knew this kid was in this class..._ Yao thought, frowning. He had to say, the kid definitely didn't have any presence like his brother whatsoever, and he was staring straight at him. As class was dismissed with the loud ringing bell rumbling the school, Yao swallowed. He had to gather enough courage to go right up to someone he hardly knew, and ask them whether or not his brother was hitting the keg tonight. He tried to convince himself that this was a normal thing to say to someone you didn't know.

"Uhm, hi. Are you Matthew?" Yao didn't even know when he walked all the way here, his mind was so fuzzy with nervousness and social anxiety. Matthew looked up. The boy seemed more anxious than Yao, maybe even terrified of the sudden interaction.

"U-uh, hi... Yes, I am... Can I h-help y-you?" Matthew stuttered. His nervousness seemed to help Yao's own. He became more confident.

"Listen, I don't know if you get this often, but do you know where your brother is today?"

"You mean... You mean Alfred?" Matthew spat. Yao was taken aback by the sudden vicious tone that Matthew had, and even more bewildered when Matthew returned to the innocent shyness that he had originally. _Okay, slight psycho over here, _he thought.

"Y-yes, Alfred."

"O-oh... He's having a party down at one of his friends house... He's been skipping school a lot hanging out with them. I guess since he figures his grades have been going up, it's alright to fool around again... So much for going to that dumb tutor he had, whoever it was." A taste of true irony, Yao found it bittersweet. He cleared his throat. He was about to lie.

"Well you see, I was invited to this party, but I seemed to have forgotten where he had it planned and I can't seem to find him anywhere. Where was it again?" Yao assumed that Matthew knew.

"Oh yeah, he's been kind of missing off and on. Even teachers can't seem to find him. But he's having it at Gilberts house. His family is going away to a family reunion, but he isn't invited," he snorted, "I wonder why."

Yao didn't get the jab, but Gilbert sounded familiar. Familiar enough to ask his siblings. It was quite convenient that lunch period was next. He waved goodbye at Matthew, but as he turned he couldn't help but feel murderous intent, more intense than even Ivan's. As he walked to lunch with a newfound sense of urgency (half from curiosity, half from running for his life), he quickly got a basic lunch and went to sit at his sibling's table. There was already Yong Soo, but Kiku was nowhere to be found. He sat down next to Yong Soo.

"Do you know a guy named Gilbert in this school?" Yao immediately asked, wasting no time. Yong Soo jumped, not sensing Yao's presence until he actually spoke.

"You are going to give me a fucking heart attack dude."

"Answer my question."

"Okay, okay... He's uhm... Let me see... He sounds familiar, I just know him..." Yong Soo thought it over, a little too long for Yao's taste but he waited patiently.

"You know Kiku's one friend Ludwig? Yeah, Gilbert is his older brother, if I'm thinking of the right one." Yong Soo said, before having a sudden eureka. Horror struck his face and he looked down at his shorter, older brother.

"Oh god, you're to old and cranky to go to parties." Yao slapped him.

"Please just shut up. I'm not going there to party you idiot- Why do _you_ know they are having a party?"

"...No reason." Yong Soo said shyly.

"You are _not_ going to that party." Yong Soo pouted with his older brother, pulling at his sleeve.

"But whyyyy?" Yao smirked.

"Because you're too young and immature."

* * *

A/N: Sorry if this doesn't follow anyone's headcanons.


End file.
